Electronic sports
Electronic sports, commonly known as esports or competitive gaming, refer to organized video game competitions where players compete individually or as teams. This rapidly growing industry boasts millions of participants and spectators worldwide, engaging audiences through both in-person events and online streaming platforms. Despite some debate about whether esports qualify as "real" sports, many professional gamers earn significant incomes, sometimes reaching six or seven figures through competitions and endorsements.
The history of esports dates back to the 1980s, when the first official tournament, the Space Invaders Tournament, was held. Over the years, various gaming genres, including first-person shooters, fighting games, and real-time strategy games, have dominated competitive gaming. The rise of multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games, particularly with the launch of League of Legends in 2009, further propelled the popularity of esports, leading to the founding of major leagues such as Major League Gaming (MLG).
Fans engage enthusiastically with esports, attending events, participating in cosplay, and following commentary provided by casters. While some traditional sports enthusiasts question the legitimacy of esports, their undeniable growth has prompted recognition from major organizations, including the International Olympic Committee, which introduced the Olympic Esports Series in 2023. Esports continue to captivate audiences globally, reflecting the evolving landscape of sports and entertainment in the digital age.
Subject Terms
Electronic sports
Electronic sports, also called esports or competitive gaming, are organized video game competitions. This lucrative industry remained popular throughout the world, with millions of participants, fans, and spectators attending tournaments held at different locations. Although many people do not consider esports "real" sports in the traditional sense, competitive gaming continued to surge in popularity. Some professional gamers earn as much as six or seven figures for their skills.
History
Casual video game competitions among friends have existed since the advent of video games. However, organized video game competitions did not become popular until the 1980s. The gaming company Atari hosted the Space Invaders Tournament, the first official competition, in 1980. More than ten thousand people participated in the event.
By the following decade, these types of competitions had become very popular with both arcade and console, or at-home gaming system, gamers. Gaming company Nintendo and video rental giant Blockbuster sponsored many world tournaments during this time. PC games, also known as computer games, surged in popularity in the 1990s, with the debut of first-person shooter (FPS) games such as Doom and Quake. Fighting games like Street Fighter and sports games such as Madden NFL also became favorites during this time. The inaugural Red Annihilation tournament, one of the first true esports competitions, was held in 1997. This event, which focused on the video game Quake, attracted more than two thousand gamers and spectators. Several gaming leagues formed during this time, including the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL), which held its first tournament in late 1997. Competition prizes by CPL ranged as high as $15,000 by 1998.
While FPS, sports, fighting, and arcade games remained the most popular types of games played in competitions, the end of the decade saw a rise in real-time strategy (RTS) games with the introduction of StarCraft: Brood War. This new type of game required players to not only have fast reflexes and sharp focus but also critical-thinking and long-term planning skills. RTS games took over esports competitions in the 2000s.
Several new international tournaments were launched in 2000, including the World Cyber Games and the Electronic Sports World Cup. In 2002, Major League Gaming (MLG) formed, becoming one of the largest and most popular esports leagues in the world. The draw of gaming competitions continued to rise with the first MLG televised event in 2006 on the USA Network.
While esports competitions proved to be very popular, televised editions did not catch on with fans over the years. Most spectators watched these events either in person or online. More than four million online and in-person viewers watched the 2012 MLG spring championship, which surpassed numbers of other traditional sporting events.
Near the end of the 2000s, multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games became popular after the release of League of Legends in 2009. MOBA games require gamers to work together to defeat enemies, only allowing players to control one figure at a time. In addition, numerous other leagues such as the Electronic Sports League and the esports Association (TeSPA) formed during this time.
Electronic gaming competitions also continued gaining popularity outside of the United States. Other nations began to host numerous esports competitions, such as the tournament at Sweden's Dreamhack festival and the South Korean Global StarCraft II League (GSL). The popularity of esports continued, amassing millions of players and fans across the globe. It also sparked numerous esports fan groups, including BarCraft, a group of StarCraft II fans that gathered to watch events at bars.
Popularity Surges Despite Criticism
Fans have rushed to gaming arenas throughout the world or have tuned in to game-streaming sites such as Twitch to watch players face off against one another. Gamers compete for millions of dollars in prizes, with professionals even earning money and merchandise from big-named sponsors such as Coca-Cola and American Express. Game publisher Activision Blizzard offered a prize of $1 million at its Call of Duty championship in Los Angeles, California. Participants who attend events such as these sometimes dress as characters from their favorite games (called cosplay) and cheer on participants. Casters, or commentators, recant every detail of play using their large breadth of knowledge about particular esports.
At the same time, some people still believed that esports are not comparable to other traditional athletic events. After airing an esports event in July 2014, ESPN2 received angry comments on the social media site Twitter from people who were upset that the sporting network chose to air a gaming competition. Gamers do not need physical strength to compete in esports, but they argue that they need other skills—such as finger strength, strong reflexes, and sharp focus—to excel at video games. Despite some criticism, ESPN became increasingly involved in esports coverage, and by 2016 the channel was offering comprehensive coverage of esports tournaments and news. However, by 2020 ESPN had scaled back its coverage of esports.
Despite the criticism, esports have evolved into a major industry. Billions of dollars are spent on video games each year. Riot Games, developer of the League of Legends game, even fought to have its game recognized as a sport. The US government agreed and began awarding international League of Legends players work visas in 2013. Multiple esports events garnered millions of views into the early 2020s, with the 2023 League of Legends World Championship amassing a record-breaking 6.4 million concurrent viewers.
In 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the Olympic Esports Series, a global tournament comprising a series of sports video games including baseball, motor sport, tennis, and cycling, among others. For the first time, an Olympic Esports Week took place, in Singapore, that year. Esports medals were also awarded for the first time in the major competition at the 2023 Asian Games. In 2024, the IOC announced the official formation of the Olympic Esports Games.
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